Budget Cuts Risk Harm to National Security, Clapper Says

March 12 (Bloomberg) -- The top U.S. intelligence official
said more than 5,000 contract workers may be dismissed and
thousands of FBI employees put on furloughs under across-the-board budget cuts.

“The degradation to intelligence will be insidious,”
James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said today
in presenting an annual assessment of worldwide threats to the
Senate intelligence committee.

The automatic reductions known as sequestration would
require cutting $4 billion from the intelligence budget, or
about 7 percent, for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on
Sept. 30, Clapper said. The cut is equivalent to a 13 percent
reduction because all of it must be absorbed within the next
seven months, he said.

Clapper said he will submit a reprogramming request to
Congress to shift funding within his budget so as to avoid
“egregious cuts.”

“Sequestration jeopardizes our nation’s safety and
security” and the risk will grow more severe over time, Clapper
said. The cuts risk “another damaging downward spiral” in
intelligence operations, he said.

Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the panel’s top
Republican, said the committee is “committed to ensuring the
intelligence community does not suffer from the lack of
resources” due to sequestration.

Seeking Legislation

Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the panel’s
Democratic chairman, said she will offer an amendment to
spending legislation to give the intelligence agencies greater
flexibility in implementing budget cuts.

A House-passed stopgap spending measure provides such
leeway for the Pentagon, and the Senate is considering
comparable legislation this week by Democratic Senator Barbara
Mikulski that would extend the flexibility to certain domestic
agencies.

Mikulski of Maryland, who heads the Senate Appropriations
Committee, said at today’s hearing that, while details need to
be worked out, “we do want to work with you.”

Clapper told the panel, “All we’re asking for is the
latitude in implementing them so we can minimize the damage.”

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Lawmakers Warn of Danger From Cuts Even as They Vote for Them